MINNOW-FISHING. 39 



case it may be used in pools, but ordinarily streams 

 are the best, as it is there that trout do chiefly feed. 

 The very early morning, as soon as the dew is off the 

 grass, and the last half-hour of dusk, are times at which 

 its attractive properties are signally manifested, al- 

 though a sunny forenoon is the most certain. 



Creepers can be most handily carried by the angler 

 in a small tin box a percussion-cap box, or that in 

 which wax-lighters are sold, does very well with a 

 few perforations in it ; while May-flies ought to be 

 carried in a perforated cannister, shaped somewhat 

 like a powder-flask, with a small neck and a spring 

 lid. 



MINNOW-FISHING is most effective in two states of 

 the water when it is red just after a flood, before be- 

 coming fit for the use of the fly, and when it is dead 

 low in summer-time. In early spring, it may be 

 practised with success at almost any time, in water 

 which has just enough of flow to make the minnow 

 spin readily ; and at all seasons, when the water is clear, 

 this kind of fishing is greatly aided by a stiff breeze. 

 In spring or in flooded water a pretty large minnow 

 may be used, but in summer-time the bait can scarcely 

 be got too small. Of course, the tackle must be adapted 

 to the size of the minnow. English anglers and tackle- 

 makers have sought out many inventions in the way 

 of artificial minnows and complicated minnow-tackle ; 

 but if the suffrages of Tweedside Gnostics were taken, 

 glass, brass, or gutta-percha imitations would be no- 

 where, and a plain running- tackle made of two hooks 

 would head the poll. The lower hook should be large 



